Friday, July 3, 2009

Remember that I brought loads of lemons home from California? Well, in my battle to use them all, I had to concede and realize I was not going to use them all. Then Lindsey of Cafe Johnsonia said she would take some off my hands. If there was anyone I would want to have some of my precious California lemons, it would be Lindsey. I knew she would love them and use them wisely.

So one day, I filled up a bag and drove over to her house after Jack's swimming lessons. In exchange for my lemony offerings, Lindsey gave me a bottle of lavender limeade. Boy, was that heaven in a bottle! I am not one to savor things and take small bites. Basically, I spent the afternoon chugging that limeade. It was divine.

Anyways, on my drive home from Lindsey's, I kept thinking about all those damn lemons I still had at home. Then I came up the hill and there were little girls selling bags of freshly-picked cherries for $1. Yeah, I'll take 3 please. And then it hit me! CHERRY LEMONADE! But then came the thought of how to make it. Tricky tricky. But I figured it out. And no, I didn't add any food coloring. It really is that red. Pretty, isn't it?

Lindsey gave me my lavender limeade in the pretty bottle pictured above. I returned her bottle filled with cherry lemonade. Not a bad trade.

Add the cherries, sugar and water into a medium saucepan. Simmer over medium heat. While cooking, mash cherries with a masher to release their juices. Simmer for 10 minutes. Pour cherry syrup through a mesh strainer, reserving the juices. Throw away the cherry pits and skins left in the strainer.

In a large pitcher, combine 2 cups of the cherry syrup, 2 cups lemon juice and 6 cups water. Stir well to combine. Chill and serve.

Rookie's Notes: This lemonade is tart, hence the cherries. So if you like a sweet taste, add more sugar to the syrup, but be careful not to cover up the cherry flavor.

I made this last night to go with our nachos (another recipe from you!) and it was awesome! The cherries made nearly 4 cups of syrup and I added all of it because I thought that just the 2 cups was too lemon-y. But just more syrup and water (and sugar!) and it was perfect and made a full gallon of lemonade.

I made this cherry lemonade for a friend of mine's birthday present. I kept about a quarter of it for myself. I think the recipe as is would have been perfect-- I dinked around with it and added more sugar and water, only to end up adding two more lemons' worth of lemon juice! I just tasted it, and it is absolutely the best lemonade I've ever had. Thanks so much for the recipe-- it's fabulous!!!